New exposure

In early March 2016 the Save Our Seas Foundation announced the two winners of its second Marine Conservation Photography Grant, who were selected from 134 entrants. Justin Gilligan (35) and Sirachai Arunrugstichai (27) will head to Washington, DC in late June to meet National Geographic assignment photographer Thomas P. Peschak and National Geographic natural history editor Kathy Moran, who will mentor them during their assignment for the Save Our Seas magazine. Both winners caught the attention of the judges because of their dedication to photographing subjects in their own backyard.

Photo by Justin Gilligan

Justin Gilligan is from New South Wales, Australia. His work has been published in numerous regional and international magazines, including Australian Geographic and BBC Wildlife, and he has received an impressive portfolio of awards, including Australian Geographic’s Portfolio Prize 2015 for the Photographer of the Year competition. Justin has an Honours degree in marine science and has worked on numerous projects with Australia’s Commonwealth and State Fisheries Agencies. He recently published a photography book about the Port Stephens region in New South Wales.

Justin impressed the judging panel with his well-balanced portfolio of beautiful Australian marine biodiversity and conservation and research subjects. ‘Both his story and his portfolio contain some of the best home-grown underwater images I’ve seen from the region,’ commented Thomas, while Kathy praised Justin for a photo story that demonstrated ‘strong storytelling, an interesting visual voice and lyricism’. Together these qualities combined into a top submission, she added.

Sirachai (Shin) Arunrugstichai is an emerging photographer based in Bangkok, Thailand. He has a background in marine biology and initially used photography to document coral reef biodiversity for researchers while working with marine conservation groups. Later he realised that his images could make a bigger impact if he created them for a more public audience. He has freelanced for several organisations and publications, including the International Union for Conservation of Nature and National Geographic Thailand.

While working as a photographer, Shin has remained active in the scientific community and is researching the conservation biology of Thailand’s sharks. His story ‘Disappearing predator’ has recently been published in National Geographic Thailand. He has also won numerous local awards.

Thomas commented that Shin’s coverage of by-catch and overfishing ‘blew him away’, adding that this is ‘an incredibly difficult subject to photograph’. He was also impressed by Shin’s ‘wonderful sense of humour’. Kathy highlighted his ‘strong sense of style, narrative and understanding of conservation issues’ and said that ‘his story was particularly strong and highlighted his sense of narrative and the visual pacing necessary for photojournalism’. After meeting with Kathy and Thomas at the National Geographic offices in Washington, DC, Shin will travel to Bimini in The Bahamas to shoot a story about the impact of development on its fragile ecosystem and Justin will head to Miami to photograph human–wildlife conflict in South Florida.

Photo by Sirachai Arunrugstichai

For more information on the SOSF Marine Conservation Photography Grant, please visit the dedicated website.